The Dragon of the Vermilion Sea
by intoxicatelove
Summary: He was curious as to why Jack wore his signature warpaint- and ended up remembering his own.
A/N: Sort of request/prompt for Chack. Idea was to have Jack explain to Chase why he wears his signature makeup + also to put makeup on Chase. Hope you all enjoy!

. . .

 _The Dragon of the Vermilion Sea_

It started off as a simple question.

"Spicer, why do you wear that on your face?"

Jack automatically knew the warlord was asking him about his unique, but not yet iconic hook design he would wear on his cheeks everyday, drawn very precisely without any trace of a smear or mistake. Jack had been wearing it for a while now, so he couldn't remember the exact day he first started to wear it. It was years now and he never altered the design. Jack remembered the reason why he wore it—it was sort of his rebellious stage against his parents who wanted him to look "business presentable," as red eyes, red hair, the albinism, his overall natural look did not live up to their standards, nor would it ever. At this point in time, Jack stopped caring about what others thought about him and stopped cursing his body because of the limitations it caused and the looks it made other people give him and learned to live with it.

Jack took his eyeliner and drew the hook as he would normally do on his left cheek. He was sitting at one of Chase's grand vanity mirror desks made of gold (he had many for the warlord cared very deeply about his appearance) and looked at Chase staring at him through the reflected mirror.

"I like it, Chase. It's like my war paint. It gives me strength. Don't you have anything else besides your martial arts and your dragon form that gives you strength?"

Chase thought for a moment and could not think of anything besides his skills in martial arts, his dragon form or even his dark magics that gave him strength. He felt that strength came from what one could do physically as opposed to trivial and materialistic things such as the makeup that his odd consort wore.

"How can drawing on your face empower you? It is impossible. Foolish, even."

Jack chuckled, expecting such an answer. "It's spiritual, Chase. It's kind of like luck. You wear something and you think it'll give you the upper hand. For me, it's my makeup. That's all there is to it. I'm not saying that when I wear it, I'll become invincible—I'm saying that when I wear it, it's like a lucky charm and also, it makes me feel good about myself. It completes my look. It's part of why I'm Jack Spicer. You get it, now?"

"I suppose so," Chase began. "However, one should not rely strictly on luck. It will eventually lead to their downfall. Luck is just a concept made to amplify hope to make it appear to appeal to the person that feels it. As for it being a part of your identity, I must say that if you chose to not wear it, you would be very different from how I originally knew you."

Jack turned to face Chase and smiled, though mocking. "If I relied strictly on luck, I would be dead. Actually, I would have been dead a long time ago. Don't count on me to rely on it. With or without my makeup, I have shitty luck."

"Wise decision," Chase praised. "It is why you have survived."

"Hm," Jack shrugged. "Guess so. That, or I'm being pitied, but whatever."

Suddenly, Jack's eyes lit up, as if an idea washed over him.

"Chase! Why don't you try makeup?"

The warlord scoffed. "Absolutely not. There will be nothing mar-"

"Oh come on!" Jack cut him off. "It doesn't have to be intense as mine. Let me do it for you! Please?"

Chase rolled his eyes. "I reiterate. No. That is the end of this."

Jack sighed. "Just trust me, for once. Please."

Seeing the general gloomy tone that reached Jack's speech and his saddened expression made Chase sigh dramatically. His consort would sulk and sulk until he gave in.

"…One chance. If you do anything that damages my skin or it if looks absolutely terrible, you will never ask me to do it again."

Jack shot up out of his chair, enthusiastic. "One chance is all I need. Sit on the vanity chair, I'll be right back!"

Before Chase could respond, Jack zoomed out of the room to get his kits and other things he needed. Chase sat at the vanity chair and hoped he didn't' make a terrible mistake.

Jack not only wanted to do Chase's makeup, he wanted to dress Chase as well. That was the part he left out intentionally so he'd come close to having a chance of Chase trusting him. He grabbed all of the necessary items he would need before going back to where Chase was.

"Now, Chase, don't freak out, but I also… wanted to dress you? Not like in my style but… more traditional?"

Chase sighed again. "I already agreed to one thing, I might as well let you do the whole thing."

"…Thank you," Jack said, setting down the items. "First, I'll just powder your face slightly and I'll add the colors I think suit you."

"Powder? What am I, a woman?" Chase replied, clearly unimpressed.

Jack just sighed again and got the items he needed, setting them on the vanity table.

"I'm not going to kill your face, Chase. Trust me, if I did something messed up to your face, I'd have to kick my own ass."

"…Very well."

"Close your eyes," Jack instructed, reaching for the white powder and the brush. He placed the brush in the powder compact and then began to gently apply it to Chase's face until it was noticeable to see, yet it would feel light. When done, Jack put the compact and the brush down and reached for a lip brush and a round tin which contained a shade of vermillion lip color.

"Now, your lips. I'm going to make them red, okay?" When Jack saw Chase nod, he opened the tin and dipped the brush lightly in it, then proceeded to paint Chase's lips.

"I love when we kiss, Chase," He said as he painted his lips. "Your lips are so soft and it leaves me wanting more. You draw me in. I have it _bad,_ you know."

Chase's lips twitched, as if he wanted to smile. Jack figured he wanted to say something but did not as he was painting his lips and he didn't want him to mess up. Soon after Jack did finish and set the lip brush and color down.

Now Chase did smile, if only slightly. "I… enjoy kissing you as well, Jack. As with all of the other things we do."

This makes Jack smile as he went behind Chase and began to gently pull his hair back. He took a light green dragon clip with a small round piece of jade dangling from it and used it to clip the mid-section of Chase's hair.

"That makes me happy, Chase. I'm glad that I'm… pleasing to you," He responded as he grabbed the garment he wanted Chase to wear, placing it into his hands. "I want you to wear that, alright?"

Chase nodded and used his skilled magic to simply imagine himself wearing the garment Jack placed in his hands and it materialized on his body with his old clothing placed on the floor next to the chair he sat in.

"May I open my eyes now?" He asked, standing up.

"Oh, right! Yes, open them!" Jack walked over and turned him around as Chase opened his eyes.

Chase was almost shocked at how he looked.

Yes, his face was lightly powdered and one would have to squint to notice it. His lips were vermillion red, not bright enough to throw off the look but dark enough that it suited Chase. His hair was pulled back delicately with only his side bang still present where it would normally be. The garment he wore was similar to an elegant robe holding black as the dominant color while green and red decorated a sash that was wrapped around him.

Chase's shock turned to admirement. He loved how elegant and refined he looked.

However, Jack was confused by his look and did not understand what he was feeling as he was silent and did not make a motion to react.

"Is it… bad?" Came the nervous ask.

"…No. It is not," Chase said as he turned to Jack, his pleased expression known. "Had I known you had such skills as this, I would have had you do this for me in the past."

Jack's grin grew along with his relief. He wanted to say something, but knew the grin on his face would be more than enough of a response.

"One thing I must ask is why you chose red for my lips instead of a darker color such as black."

"Oh," Jack shrugged. "I don't think it would have went well with the theme I was going with. That was my first choice, but maybe in the future, I'll try that. I know I went with black for your robe, but it would have clashed with the light powder. Besides, I think that particular red suits you."

"And how so?"

"Well, red is a passionate color, but I'm sure you knew that. It could also represent anger… but that shade I chose is vermillion."

"Vermilion…" Chase muttered, looking at his complexion in the mirror again. "It was a common color for women to wear along with a powdered face."

"Mhm, well, I wasn't exactly trying to insult you or anything…" Jack turned his face away awkwardly.

"No, it's not insulting. It's understandable. It reminds me of something. When I first turned over from the Xiaolin side, I had… excessive anger. It started when I found out that conniving Bean tricked me in a way that I could never go back. I was called The Dragon of the Vermilion Sea."

"That fits you," Jack started. "It's elegant yet adds a sense of fear."

"Mhm," Chase responded. "I grew to like it after some time. I am rarely called it now, but you reminded me of it as I said."

Jack cupped Chase's cheek. "Well, I like it. It sounds beautiful."

Chase shook his head. "I suppose so."

"You should _know_ so, Chase!" Jack began. "Look at you! Even when you're not dressed like this, you're beautiful. Now I know you think that term's for women or whatever, but I really do mean it…"

Chase embraced Jack tightly. "Thank you."

"Mhm…" Jack nuzzled him, as he would always do, feeling content in his arms.

Only someone like Jack could make Chase Young feel beautiful.

. . .

A/N: I wanted to do sweet Chack that was similar to _Canvas_ and out came this~ I hope you enjoy!


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